I don’t know that I have a singular “best friend” — I’ve always kept more of a close circle of friends and then a larger circle of acquaintances.

Kate. If I had to name a best friend, Kate would be it. She’s the type of person I could spend the rest of my life with, which is good, because I’m totally going to. She’s one of the strongest people I know and I admire the hell out of what she’s done with her life. She’s smart, funny, and under her crunchy exterior is a giant ball of mush. She has more compassion, thoughtfulness, and heart than any two people I know combined.

Dave/Kristin. My two compadres de revolución in college. They married each other, so they get a single line-item. I think it’s a testimony to our friendship that we didn’t talk for almost a year, but still get along like we always did. Why no talking? We weren’t mad — we were shell-shocked from sharing an apartment for a summer. Tough. Dave is one of the smartest human beings I know, and Kristin is one of the hardest-working human beings I know.

Josh. Josh is an enigma, and a lot of people don’t understand our friendship. We’re a couple of geeks who have pretty divergent beliefs, particularly in politics. But we click well. We have a lot of common interests — science fiction, video games, computer geekery, that sort of thing. He’s a stable, dependable, stand-up guy, but he doesn’t take shit from anyone. If I were taking a military unit to war, I’d want Josh as my XO.